It was already late at night, the hour when sweet dreams should be settling in.

The desk lamp cast a soft glow over the cramped room, filled with the sound of fingers tapping at a keyboard. Each scattered keystroke seemed especially loud in the night, falling into a rhythm of rises and falls—like pearls, large and small, tumbling onto a jade plate in “Song of the Pipa.”

On the computer desk sat a cup of coffee that had been topped up who knew how many times. Steam curled from it, warm and inviting. Beside the cup stood a sacred idol beloved by veteran shut-ins: a figurine.

He’d arranged them that way because it made Ye Su feel as if his waifu was there keeping him company while he worked overtime. Well... that was all in his head.

There’d been a ton of work at the company today. Those bastards on the game testing team had uncovered an absurd number of bugs, and now Ye Su was stuck working late to fix them. He had no idea which newbie had written the faulty data, but somehow he was the one left holding the bag.

Well... whatever. Triple overtime pay. For the sake of expanding his collection of waifus, Ye Su gritted his teeth and put up with it.

These days, there were only two ways to find happiness: spend money or spend your life. That was common sense, wasn’t it?

With that belief in mind, he threw himself into several days and nights of life-burning debugging, fixing these inexplicably appearing bugs. The game testing team really had done a good job finding so many of them. Now all he had to do was test around each bug, explore the possibilities, and fix whatever he found.

Still, one person could only handle so much.

By now, he’d finished about half the work. Most of the remaining bugs came from errors in the database, like a monster’s skill formula being wrong or an item’s effect overflowing.

At this rate, he’d be done with the project after another two days or so.

Then another big chunk of money would hit his account, and he could buy a few more waifu figurines! Heh. At the thought, Ye Su’s panda eyes lit up. For the sake of his dream, he’d gladly spend his life!

Oh... let’s see. Here’s another monster with a broken skill formula. Which newbie did they just hire to write this code? If I were his boss, I’d make him get on his knees and apologize to me!

Just as Ye Su was about to make the change, he felt his hands and feet stop obeying him. He couldn’t summon any strength.

It was as if he’d lost all feeling. His thoughts, too, were slowly growing sluggish.

Maybe he was just exhausted from burning his life away. Ye Su hurriedly tried to grab a cup of coffee, but his strength was fading fast. The moment his hand closed around the cup, he lost the ability to move altogether.

His whole body went slack, and his gaze grew unfocused.

No way... was he really that exhausted?

Ye Su’s thoughts grew hazier and hazier. Looking at the code on his screen, he couldn’t help feeling a little regretful. It looked like he’d have to fix this one tomorrow morning.

That was enough life-burning cultivation for tonight. He’d get a good night’s sleep, then keep fixing bugs in the morning. Putting it off for just one night shouldn’t... cause any problems, right...

Ye Su’s eyes went blank, and his thoughts ground to a halt. His body seemed to lose all support and slumped forward, knocking over the steaming coffee. The rich brown liquid spilled across him, hot enough to make anyone yelp. Yet even as it soaked him, Ye Su’s body remained lifeless. He didn’t cry out.

It wasn’t until several days later that the personnel department followed the address Ye Su had listed in his records and went looking for him. All they found was a corpse slumped over a desk.

The computer was still plugged in, its screen frozen on the bug-fixing page.

“He was still working when he died? What a good employee. But I don’t recommend that kind of work ethic to everyone.” Ye Su had burned himself to death for the job, and all he got in return was a supervisor’s remark that sounded like praise but was really mockery.

......

Who knew how long it took before his muddled thoughts finally began to stir.

Exhaustion, weakness, regret.

All kinds of emotions filled his heart.

It felt like he’d finally gotten a full night’s sleep. He hadn’t felt this way once since starting work, and it brought back memories of his student days, when he’d still been in a paradise of his own.

And... he felt like he was swaying back and forth, as if he were on a swing. It was so relaxing.

It felt as if something were supporting his body, rocking him gently at a steady rhythm. It was like he was leaning against someone’s back, being carried along.

What a pleasant dream! It felt so nice. He pressed his head a little deeper into the soft spot he was leaning against, and a wonderfully soft sensation met him in return.

Was this dream way too realistic or what?

Then he quickly opened his eyes. Everything around him was pitch-black, but in the silvery moonlight, he could just make out someone’s back in front of him. He really was being carried.

???

What’s going on? Wasn’t I working overtime at home? Did burning the candle at both ends give me hallucinations?

Ye Su was completely bewildered. But no matter how many times he shut his eyes and opened them again, the scene stayed exactly the same.

He really was on someone’s back. In the night, he could just make out what looked like a flower field all around them, and he could smell flowers on the breeze.

Ye Su could tell he was weak. Even moving felt exhausting. If this were a movie, he’d say he’d been drugged.

Th-this is a kidnapping!!! Huh?!

But why kidnap a shut-in like me? I’m not exactly worth much. And... something about this felt off. Didn’t I weigh close to 130 jin? What kind of kidnapper could carry a grown adult weighing 130 jin all the way out into the wilderness? That can’t be right. Wouldn’t people notice if we were walking along the road?

I must’ve woken up confused. Or maybe I opened my eyes the wrong way!

Ye Su was about to try opening and closing his eyes again when a warm, gentle voice interrupted him. It was a woman’s voice. She seemed to be around twenty, about 168 centimeters tall—and she was an absolute beauty!

“You’re awake now? Then walk by yourself, okay? You really wore your big sis out. Hehe.”

The shut-in’s sage mode let him identify her from her voice in an instant...

All right, that was nonsense. The woman who’d been carrying Ye Su had set him down and was crouching in front of him, patting his head. In those few moments, Ye Su had already estimated the big sister’s measurements.

But Ye Su, the shut-in who should’ve been thrilled to see a beautiful big sister, wasn’t all that excited.

He was completely stunned, okay?

He stared at the beautiful big sister, who stood about sixty centimeters taller than him, and had no idea what to say. If his quick estimate had been right, Ye Su’s eyes were now only about a meter off the ground.

He hurriedly looked at his hands. They were clean, soft, and adorable—not the weathered hands of a programmer who’d lived through more than twenty years. Then, in silence, he felt his legs.

They were gone! The leg hair he’d had for over twenty years was completely gone! That soft, delicate touch... he was totally a little boy now!

Don’t ask me how I know what a little boy feels like. I’m just guessing, too.

Seeing that Ye Su had been silent for so long and had done nothing but look at his hands and feel his legs, the big sister who’d carried him patted his head again.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the guild first. Little guy, what were you doing in the Forest all by yourself? And why did you fall asleep there? Where’s your family?” The big sister’s gentle voice seemed to have a mysterious, soothing quality. Ye Su felt completely at ease.

“Mm... my family isn’t here.” He answered softly, then quietly followed the big sister as she walked ahead.

He didn’t understand what she was saying, though Ye Su had already formed a guess about what was going on. He’d caught a glimpse of the beautiful big sister’s outfit earlier. It was exactly like the Western European-style knight armor you saw in manga and anime.

Her torso was covered in leather armor, while her legs and shoulders were clad in metal that shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

Was he really such a shut-in that he’d started imagining things this vividly...? Holy crap... I’m a genius! The big sister’s character design gets extra points! I’m the kind of player who can’t even make a decent-looking character in a game, and now I’m dreaming up an NPC this good-looking without even customizing her. That’s gotta be genius.

Still, his suspicion that this was all a dream lasted less than ten minutes. After that, Ye Su realized it couldn’t possibly be a dream.

A wolf howled out of nowhere, close by!

Then, following the first wolf’s howl, more howls rose one after another, one echoing the next. Anyone who’d watched a nature documentary knew what this meant: they’d run into a pack of wolves. Under the alpha’s direction, the pack would immediately start surrounding its prey.

Huh?!

No way! What happened to the lovely dream where I walked through the night chatting with a beautiful big sister? Ye Su had no idea how to handle being surrounded by darkness and the howls of so many wolves. His legs were shaking with fear.

He was just begging for this to end soon if it really was a dream when—

The howling suddenly drew close. A wolf nearly three meters long burst out of the flower field beside them, jaws gaping as it lunged for Ye Su’s head.

“Aaaaaah!!!” He screamed so hard his voice cracked.

It’s over, it’s over. I’m dead! This is a dream, right? It has to be! I don’t want to get transported to another world! Dying the moment I get here would be way too tragic!

A wet, squelching sound rang out—the sound of something sharp piercing flesh. Then it came again, and again. Ye Su didn’t feel the wolf land on top of him. His eyes, which he’d squeezed shut in panic, slowly opened.

What he saw was the big sister with flowing hair sliding her sword back into its sheath. Her gaze was cold, a murderous aura in her eyes. She had the unshakable presence of a saintess, through and through!

Blood sprayed through the air. More than ten wolves lay dead around them, their heads completely severed from their bodies......

That was so cool!

“Are you all right? They were only a few little wolves. You’d better stay close to your big sis.” After sheathing her sword, the big sister slipped right back into her gentle mode. Ye Su could barely keep up with the sudden change.

He wanted to ask, What kind of “little wolf” is three meters long? But after seeing that bloody scene, Ye Su decided not to make the joke.

“I-I’m fine... Mm?!” Just as he was about to answer, a window appeared in front of him, like a notification box in a game.

【Party defeated a wild wolf pack. EXP gained: 217. Ye Su [Novice] Lv. 1 → Lv. 2】

【Hidden talent class [GM] unlocked and added to the class list. You may switch to it at any time.】

......To be continued